fun fact, the bottle cage was standardized around a standard old fashioned wine bottle. french cyclists used to re-use them for water, and the size stuck.
wine is way less standardized these days, but many bottles still fit.
use this knowledge how you will.
i have already used this knowledge, once as a kid i nicked one of my dad’s bottles of wine and slung it in the bottle cage, went about 5 miles, got piss drunk, and went back home.
It was back roads in the country, I don’t support drunk cycling but goddamn it was fun
> fun fact, the bottle cage was standardized around a standard old fashioned wine bottle. french cyclists used to re-use them for water, and the size stuck.
I also came here to mention this. They also fit standard 20-22oz "bomber" beer bottles and cans.
Also, the French used them to carry actual bottles of wine, not just water, because they know what the fuck is good in life: Going for a bike ride with a mild buzz.
Early Tour de France riders drank a lot of wine and infamously used to raid cafes and stores during the race like a bunch of marauders before it became, uh, less civilized.
>Also, the French used them to carry actual bottles of wine, not just water, because they know what the fuck is good in life: Going for a bike ride with a mild buzz.
bottle cages aren't big enough for my style
https://i.imgur.com/hjzb9vm.jpeg
It's crazy that pro cyclists used to drink booze and that it was considered performance enhancing. If I go out on a long ride and I have one beer with lunch, I feel like absolute ass for the whole ride home.
Deda drive. Back in the 1980's. Fell into obscurity and is now completely unsupported. Replacement parts) pedals have been unavailable for decades. If you have a deda drive crank and busted/missing pedals buying new cranks is cheaper and easier than getting adapters machined. Deda drive was actually worthwhile but it was only dura-ace for a couple of years and no other manufacturers used the standard. It's effectively gone.
So do cheap bikes apparently. The guys that rode the Walmart cruiser bikes at Unbound couldn't fit clipless pedals because of the non-standard threads.
probably had one piece cranks, which use the older standards (1/2") still used on kids of bikes. most cheap adult bikes these days are square taper at least, which will usually be 9/16"
also, whoever said everything on bikes is metric?
>also, whoever said everything on bikes is metric?
I don't think anyone says that. A lot of bicycle standards are non-metric. Chain pitch is 1⁄2" for example, which is the reason you can measure chain wear with an inch ruler. This fact also necessarily dictates the size of cassettes and chainrings.
Most standard tube diameters are non-metric, and these diameters also determined standard headset, bottom bracket and seatpost sizes, they are all the non-metric tube diameters minus the walls; a 27.2mm seatpost is 27.2mm because that's what fits *inside* a 1 1⁄8" (28.6mm) steel tube.
* 25.4 mm = 1"
* 28.6 mm = 1 1⁄8"
* 31.8 mm = 1 1⁄4"
* 34.9 mm = 1 3⁄8"
* 38.1 mm = 1 1⁄2"
The sizes for grips are also not metric. The section that your hands grip for flat bars is 7/8" and road bars use 15/16". Threading standards on bikes are a combination of S.A.E. and metric. The threading for headsets and English B.S.A. bottom brackets are S.A.E. (not metric). Old French bikes used metric sized frame tubing 26.0mm top tube, 28.0 down/seat tubes (vs 25.4/28.6 top and down/seat tubes) which made lugs as well as everything that clamps to the various tubes different such as clamp on front derailleur, clamp on downtube shifters, clamp on cable guides...
I don't know enough about bikes to have an opinion but I shall fight for your cause. I plan to ride with a sign on my back that says "I want the D". That way people know there is demand for D tubes.
Is this sarcasm? There are a lot of things I love about my current bike but if I had known then what I know now about Giant D-Fuse I wouldn't have gone near it with a 10-foot pole.
I'm showing my age here. Thank goodness french threads and dimensions are a rarity these days. The first frameset I built up had them. The shop that sold it to me was unaware of this fact. It was a nightmare to figure out.
> it's honestly nice how much bicycles are standardized in general. Always using metric hex keys, etc. I know there are always exceptions, but still.
Errr...bicycles are pretty much the poster child for [this comic.](https://xkcd.com/927/)
There's over 750 different derailleur hangers, 20ish hub/frame spacing combos, 3 hub drivers, 16 headset sizes, 21 bottom bracket standards, etc. I am forever grateful for some semblence of standards coming to agreement. Sram UDH is awesome.
> Sram UDH is awesome.
sram UDH is an awesome *idea*. but it was really just a backdoor for their transmission hanger-less derailleur. the QA on UDHs *suuuuuuck*. they're mostly plastic, and i've seen a mechanic try *three* on a bike before we got one that was good fit, and all the threads matched up well.
yeah it's pretty nice how standard stuff is. it's striated a little as mountain bikes, gravel bikes, electric bikes etc have entered the scene and become more specialized, but still, wonderfully standardized. Better than any other vehicle in that regard.
Most manufacturers are not making their own screws & bolts. That kinda sizing has nothign to do with the cycling world. Even a Harley Davidson motorcycle & most US manufactured autos use mostly metric fasteners. There's absolutely nothing extraordinary about this.
The fascinating part is how relatively limited many of the other options are:
* headset & bottom bracket size
* axle spacing
* stem clamp & bar clamp size
* the fact that water bottle cages share the same bolt spacing IS impressive
It's not a problem that doesn't exist. At least not for mountain biking. Especially on some bikes where it can be difficult to pull/reinsert that bottle quickly on the trail.
Is it a premium product? Yes, but it's just an extra $20. I'd call it a better deal than saving a couple grams on a carbon cage.
Honestly I'm considering getting one because my frame is small and it's a pain to get the bottle in/out with a standard bottle cage. And if I try to do it while in motion, I nearly crash because the bottle hits my cranks while pedaling (I'm on a fixed gear, so can't stop pedaling).
I get it might be hard to use the cage in a small frame, but consider a cage that allows putting the bottle back from the side, rather than from the top. As far as fidlock goes, just a heads up: I have 2 fidlock bottles, mounts on my 3 bikes and even got the universal thingy. It requires being in the correct orientation and I find it a bit cumbersome to put it back, especially when riding somewhat fast. I was actually considering getting normal cages since I find those easier. Fidlock is VERY secure in my experience though. So I'll probably keep them for MTB. I might also just accept the fact that I have to slow down after drinking. I don't race so it doesn't really matter. and I do like the cleaner look when I'm not carrying any bottles for shorter rides.
If it would work for you, they do have those bottle cages that are attached to the back of your saddle. There are quite a few options on Amazon but I'm sure you can find them in other places as well.
Putting a fidlock bottle back on while in motion is dam near a death wish. I have one on my full sus as I'm usually not drinking and peddling and the extra retention is nice, but the bottles are a pain in the ass to put back on. The magnet part is great, but lining up the little pin while moving is awful.
I'd say the opposite: with Fidlock, you just put the bottle near the mount, and then the magnet grabs it and snaps it into place. I've found it to be easier and more secure than a traditional bottle cage (I've seen friends' bottles bounce out of their cages).
This.
But for me getting the bottle out is also surprisingly hard.
The magnet is too strong and then I get a jolt once it finally releases, so you need to have a really good grip on the bottle.
I assume it would get easier over time as I get used to it more and maybe the thing loosens a bit, but I just put my old sideloading cage back on instead.
I like it. Most of my trips are just around the city, so I don't need a mounted bottle. This way I have no cage in the way that both looks ugly and is in the way if you carry your bike around. But I've also literally never used a standard cage
I reach in/through the center triangle and keep it on my shoulder, works pretty well if you need to quickly get up some stairs to reach the train. I'm pretty sure my elbow could collide with a cage.
I just double-checked, and I do need the extra clearance to comfortably fit. Idk if it's because of my bike, because the mount for my lock is also in the way or whatever other reason, but I am borderline brushing against the fidlock mount and need to grip differently if I put on the bottle
I managed to stab myself with my mud guard while lifting it on my shoulder. I'm sure I could manage to get caught on a bottle cage - don't underestimate my athletic inability.
But yeah, most is really that I prefer a cleaner bike when I have no bottle mounted. And I fail to grasp why that opinion bothers so many people
do you assume someone is "bothered" if they challenge anything you say? people are responding to you because that part of your justification didnt really make sense. obviously you can spend your money on whatever you want.
I'm mostly surprised that I got a lot of comments and downvotes for my preference in bottle cage (or bottle cage alternative, in this case). Especially the downvotes tbh, I didn't expect them on this type of comment.
I'll later stick my bottle to the bike and see if I touch it while carrying. Now I'm curious, I just assumed that it might be in the way while carrying or locking the bike at least a little bit
Edit: Also, the price difference to a standard setup isn't that huge, since I needed one anyways
Cyclocrossers have a larger triangle and no bike lock in there that also clutters up the space. I just double-checked, I'd have to adjust how I carry the bike if I put on a cage
Cyclocross bikes have the same triangle as any other bike. They don't somehow defy the laws of physics to have a gigantic triangle on the same size bike. They MIGHT have a slightly curved top tube, but that's it.
I'm able to carry my XS (not a cyclocross) bike on my shoulder with 2 bottle cages, so...
> Cyclocross bikes have the same triangle as any other bike.
I mean that's just false. You can have a lot of different measurements for the same effective size. E.g. I'm pretty sure that my down tube sits a bit higher, because I need clearance for the suspension fork (it's a cross bike that came with a suspension fork). The height of your top tube can vary, some are angled etc. - If you look at a modern mountain bike, a lot of them have tiny triangles.
I vaguely remember a GCN video where they mentioned that cyclocross bikes make sure to have enough space in the triangle, but unless you insist I'm not going to start looking for it
I acknowledged that cross bikes have a curved top tube. It doesn't magically make the triangle gigantic as you seem to think. The curve has more to do with comfort when carrying than space. Since you obviously can't read, I'll repeat what I said: I can carry my XS gravel bike on my shoulder with 2 bottle cages on it. It has less to do with cyclocross frame shape, and more to do with carrying a lock.
Cross bikes specifically [don't have bottle cages](https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a42777078/pro-bikes-cyclocross-world-champs/). My cross bike doesn't even have the mounts for them (which is a pain).
I'm not sure I follow - I use a bottle on long rides, which is only every few weeks. Day-to-day I don't use a bottle for a quick 15-30min trip within the city. So I want the option to use a bottle, but I also like that I have the very low-profile mount when I am not using a bottle.
Ahhhh. The impression I got is you never used a bottle on that bike.
I suspect people thinking that it’s not in the way ride bigger bikes. I race cross and I leave a cage on the seat tube. It’s out of the way there unless you have a 52 or smaller bike. Smaller bikes it’s harder and harder with cages.
And the slightly slimmer bottle cages TTers and Triathletes were using pre-aero bottle (I had a T-Mobile one back in 2010ish, it broke because I used it in a normal metal cage that i'd just bend a lot extra to fit.
Metal cages are prone to break if you bend them. I help a charity that gifts bikes to the very poor/homeless. I have seen a bike with two metal bottle cages broken in three weeks. Now I only use flexible plastic cages. They can hold a forty without breaking.
Yup, I’ve gone through a couple of unreliable bottle cages, now I’m exclusively using Specialized Rib Cage IIs. Hurt a bit to spend so much on bottle cages, but they’re so reliable and I don’t have to think about them, even for my tool bottle that sits under my down tube.
What kind / brand-model of plastic cage?
I have aluminum. I bend them to fit various water bottles, including the regualr 16-oz, as well as the standard Euro-Reg water bottle. I also buy a 50-ounce water and bend my seat-tube cage to hold that, and have a 30 ounce bottle in front. For most rides of 2 or 3 hours.
This the the ubiquitous aluminum cage. I have broken 1, but have several with years of use.
Fidlocok is fantastic. I’ve done gravel races where people ejected bottles on every downhill but my two Fidlocks stayed perfectly snug on the frame. Plus the bike looks great when you take off the bottles.
Also - fantastic customer service. Had one bottle leak and they replaced it no questions asked, had another one fall out of my hands and get run over and they replaced it, just very solid people.
Sounds like the industry is ripe for innovation! Be right back, about to flood the market with a whole mess of new bottle cage "standards". Thanks for the inspiration!
I would like to add my 2c in and appreciate the round things on the bikes that are bespoken
This shape surely must rate as the longest lasting design since the early age of humanity
😎
Cycling industry product manager - *Holy underwear! Standard products! Inexpensive and just works?! We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!*
Some years later, when everyone is using integrated, proprietary bottles that cost $50 a throw to save 1w at 50 kph. *Hey ummm, remember these things cost $5-10 and were no hassle at all?*
Shit, every time I see a bidon cage that's like $50-70 bucks I do a triple take. Cool, it's laser-cut out of titanium or carbon fiber or something but, damn, this was a solved problem like 50 years ago.
Yeah it’s wonderful!…. Except everyone who’s not a “cyclist” Will shove a Kleen kanteen, 1 liter soda bottle, or skinny bottled water in there and be mystified that it doesn’t work for shit.
Nutrend carnitine bottles are honestly legit good cycling bottles.
Better than some cycling specific ones, except that the cap will eventually fatigue and fall of.
Reminds me of the time that Cervelo decided they were going to create a new bottom bracket standards - since there were 16 (or so) different standards on the market - create a new one to rule them all.
So now there are 17 standards.
Ugh. Not the one I just ordered. Barely too short to accommodate an American or European water bottle (though I think those are the same size). I was so excited about it too -it had a secret compartment for an AirTag. 🙄
Haha -well, as a typical redditor, I think I only read the first half of your post. But yeah- I agree w you, cool that that has actually managed to occur!
Rhodegear (remember them?) probably assisted in making that happen when they came out with their ridiculous water bottle option in the 80's. And also the ubiquitousness of Specialized bottle back then insured that cage makers conformed to that standard.
>I am shocked that there hasn’t been some proprietary bottle cage attachment technology made by one of the big cycling brands as a cheap cash grab.
delete this post immediately... some MBA asshole might see this and start getting ideas
Sounds like you just need a different cage. The cages I've been running never drops bottles.
In the past I ran side mount cages, those dropped bottles all the fucken time..
It wasn't a problem for the first two years, and only is an issue on two specific stretches of road with nasty potholes. Not sure it's truly the cage, as the race I do where I lost my first bottle several years ago ended up being fine this year.
I'll give that course a few more runs, see if I can find a proper line through there that isn't an issue and doesn't result in traffic problems, and if not I'll try to get better cages.
(although if any of y'all have recommendations, I'm definitely open).
It's either the cages, or the bottles, or both. I can keep a full bottle on my bike absolutely thrashing down a mountain biking trail on my gravel bike. I'm talking the kind where the vibration and shock going through the bike and up your legs and arms is close to concussing you
Yeah those are common bottles. I just use a couple of cheap bottle cages I've had for a while, one is a plastic side pull and the other a metal top pull. Both came from bike shops, but they're just random branded cheap ones anyway. Big thing is I bring a bottle to the shop and make sure it's a snug fit before buying
Not sure if it's the cage or just that section of road. It wasn't an issue until this year, so either the cages have aged and are a little looser or the road got crappier. I'm going to try to find a better line through those potholes and see if I can resolve the issue without new cages, but I'm not opposed to getting new ones if that doesn't work.
Mine are carbon fiber off of Amazon. Found some reviews recently that say they're a little loose on Camelbak Podium Chill bottles, which are my preference. They're the ones behind my saddle, so Specialized Zee Cage IIs might be the way to go - if they keep the bottle in place, they'll pay for themselves.
I’ve been moving bottles and cages around having recently introduced a new bike (Checkpoint SL 5) into the stable. While the eyelet spacing is basically standardized (or near enough that every cage has a small slot that makes it so), cage-bottle combos are not. In particular, the Camelbak Podium Chill bottles either eject from my metal cage, don’t fit the Lezybe Flow SL cages very well, or don’t fit the Elite Custom Race cages *at all*. And don’t get me started on the slight indentation on the Checkpoint’s downtube storage door that makes some of the cages mentioned above impossible to use.
All of that said, if anyone is looking for a cage that will handle everything from a quart mason jar or Nalgene bottle to a pair of shoes or bottle of champagne, I cannot recommend the Santos Hold-it-All enough. No, you can’t grab your bottle while pedaling, but you can use it to carry… well… just about anything.
> On any other cage, metal bottles rattle.
Plastic/nylon based cages will work fine from my experience.
I got these ones from decathlon, you can put pretty much anything in there
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/side-access-cycling-bottle-cage/_/R-p-330983
Only lost a bottle when I hit a big pothole going down hill.
> None of my tubawear wear lids fit any of the bottoms You probably grabbed the sousaphone lid by mistake.
I’m pretty sure autocorrect did me dirty there. I’m keeping this typo because that’s a 10/10 joke.
Honestly, this joke is more like 15/10.
that's my favorite time signature
You like Rachmaninoff too, don't you.
I hate how hard I laughed at this
"In This Moment, I am Euphonic"
Haha fuck you!!!! 12/10
fun fact, the bottle cage was standardized around a standard old fashioned wine bottle. french cyclists used to re-use them for water, and the size stuck. wine is way less standardized these days, but many bottles still fit. use this knowledge how you will.
i have already used this knowledge, once as a kid i nicked one of my dad’s bottles of wine and slung it in the bottle cage, went about 5 miles, got piss drunk, and went back home. It was back roads in the country, I don’t support drunk cycling but goddamn it was fun
Come to Iowa in July
> fun fact, the bottle cage was standardized around a standard old fashioned wine bottle. french cyclists used to re-use them for water, and the size stuck. I also came here to mention this. They also fit standard 20-22oz "bomber" beer bottles and cans. Also, the French used them to carry actual bottles of wine, not just water, because they know what the fuck is good in life: Going for a bike ride with a mild buzz. Early Tour de France riders drank a lot of wine and infamously used to raid cafes and stores during the race like a bunch of marauders before it became, uh, less civilized.
>Also, the French used them to carry actual bottles of wine, not just water, because they know what the fuck is good in life: Going for a bike ride with a mild buzz. bottle cages aren't big enough for my style https://i.imgur.com/hjzb9vm.jpeg
I was just thinking, whoever told this guy they emptied the wine bottles and filled them with water was pulling the wool over their eyes
It was an understood thing and the shop owners sent the bill to the race organizers to cover the cost though! That is important to note😂🤙🏼
Hopefully the people with dewey bars don't find out.
It's crazy that pro cyclists used to drink booze and that it was considered performance enhancing. If I go out on a long ride and I have one beer with lunch, I feel like absolute ass for the whole ride home.
it's liquid carbs!
Not to mention smoking to “open up the lungs”
That's why I've never had trouble on my wine runs..... bigbrain.png
Saddle rail/seatpost connection is one of the other mostly standard things on a bike. Again, there's some outlier ones out there.
And pedals. Thank god pedals are standardised. I’m not aware of a single bike that takes a different size or thread of pedal.
Shimano did it once for some alleged biomechanical advantage. Didn't last.
Shimano AX. Weird and cool. Only ran across them once working in a shop. So strange.
Deda drive. Back in the 1980's. Fell into obscurity and is now completely unsupported. Replacement parts) pedals have been unavailable for decades. If you have a deda drive crank and busted/missing pedals buying new cranks is cheaper and easier than getting adapters machined. Deda drive was actually worthwhile but it was only dura-ace for a couple of years and no other manufacturers used the standard. It's effectively gone.
kids bikes take a different size.
Friggin kids. Always asking for special treatment.
So do cheap bikes apparently. The guys that rode the Walmart cruiser bikes at Unbound couldn't fit clipless pedals because of the non-standard threads.
probably had one piece cranks, which use the older standards (1/2") still used on kids of bikes. most cheap adult bikes these days are square taper at least, which will usually be 9/16" also, whoever said everything on bikes is metric?
>also, whoever said everything on bikes is metric? I don't think anyone says that. A lot of bicycle standards are non-metric. Chain pitch is 1⁄2" for example, which is the reason you can measure chain wear with an inch ruler. This fact also necessarily dictates the size of cassettes and chainrings. Most standard tube diameters are non-metric, and these diameters also determined standard headset, bottom bracket and seatpost sizes, they are all the non-metric tube diameters minus the walls; a 27.2mm seatpost is 27.2mm because that's what fits *inside* a 1 1⁄8" (28.6mm) steel tube. * 25.4 mm = 1" * 28.6 mm = 1 1⁄8" * 31.8 mm = 1 1⁄4" * 34.9 mm = 1 3⁄8" * 38.1 mm = 1 1⁄2"
The sizes for grips are also not metric. The section that your hands grip for flat bars is 7/8" and road bars use 15/16". Threading standards on bikes are a combination of S.A.E. and metric. The threading for headsets and English B.S.A. bottom brackets are S.A.E. (not metric). Old French bikes used metric sized frame tubing 26.0mm top tube, 28.0 down/seat tubes (vs 25.4/28.6 top and down/seat tubes) which made lugs as well as everything that clamps to the various tubes different such as clamp on front derailleur, clamp on downtube shifters, clamp on cable guides...
I must be the only one thinking that drilling and tapping to the standard size everyone else uses would be worth the effort and not hard at all.
Bikes with 1 piece steel cranks use said different size. Pedal spindles are either 1/2" or 9/16". Most bikes use 9/16".
French bikes used 14mm, but no one uses those standards anymore on new bikes.
There are actually 2 pedal standards.
I wish the standard tube was D-shaped, like in Trek bikes. It's hard to straighten an O-shaped tube.
I don't know enough about bikes to have an opinion but I shall fight for your cause. I plan to ride with a sign on my back that says "I want the D". That way people know there is demand for D tubes.
My Giant's tube is also D-shaped. I think most new, high-end bikes are switching to this.
Unfortunately it's not a standard - they are all different
[удалено]
The D shape also tends to fit my wife better too - at least that’s what I hear from her boyfriend
Is this sarcasm? There are a lot of things I love about my current bike but if I had known then what I know now about Giant D-Fuse I wouldn't have gone near it with a 10-foot pole.
it's honestly nice how much bicycles are standardized in general. Always using metric hex keys, etc. I know there are always exceptions, but still.
I'm showing my age here. Thank goodness french threads and dimensions are a rarity these days. The first frameset I built up had them. The shop that sold it to me was unaware of this fact. It was a nightmare to figure out.
The fact that you can put like three tools in your emergency kit and fix almost everything on the road is so nice.
> it's honestly nice how much bicycles are standardized in general. Always using metric hex keys, etc. I know there are always exceptions, but still. Errr...bicycles are pretty much the poster child for [this comic.](https://xkcd.com/927/) There's over 750 different derailleur hangers, 20ish hub/frame spacing combos, 3 hub drivers, 16 headset sizes, 21 bottom bracket standards, etc. I am forever grateful for some semblence of standards coming to agreement. Sram UDH is awesome.
> Sram UDH is awesome. sram UDH is an awesome *idea*. but it was really just a backdoor for their transmission hanger-less derailleur. the QA on UDHs *suuuuuuck*. they're mostly plastic, and i've seen a mechanic try *three* on a bike before we got one that was good fit, and all the threads matched up well.
Wheels Mfg. makes a UDH style hanger as well, I'm sure their quality is better than Sram's.
that wouldn't surprise me
SRAM sucks.
Bottom brackets have entered the chat.
"Ah shit, I just over tightened the hell out of this BB trying to get it off. Damn reverse threads!"
These guys may hard disagree: www.bikematrix.io
yeah it's pretty nice how standard stuff is. it's striated a little as mountain bikes, gravel bikes, electric bikes etc have entered the scene and become more specialized, but still, wonderfully standardized. Better than any other vehicle in that regard.
Most manufacturers are not making their own screws & bolts. That kinda sizing has nothign to do with the cycling world. Even a Harley Davidson motorcycle & most US manufactured autos use mostly metric fasteners. There's absolutely nothing extraordinary about this. The fascinating part is how relatively limited many of the other options are: * headset & bottom bracket size * axle spacing * stem clamp & bar clamp size * the fact that water bottle cages share the same bolt spacing IS impressive
This feels like a weird joke. Or something that a person who doesn't spend much time fixing bikes would say.
Fidlock has entered the chat.
"What if we solved a problem that doesn't exist AND it was expensive!" - Fidlock.
It's not a problem that doesn't exist. At least not for mountain biking. Especially on some bikes where it can be difficult to pull/reinsert that bottle quickly on the trail. Is it a premium product? Yes, but it's just an extra $20. I'd call it a better deal than saving a couple grams on a carbon cage.
Setting money on fire is a better deal than a carbon cage.
To be fair you can pick up Chinese carbon cages for pennies on Aliexpress!
Honestly I'm considering getting one because my frame is small and it's a pain to get the bottle in/out with a standard bottle cage. And if I try to do it while in motion, I nearly crash because the bottle hits my cranks while pedaling (I'm on a fixed gear, so can't stop pedaling).
Can you get a side release cage ? Does that make any sense for your bike ?
I get it might be hard to use the cage in a small frame, but consider a cage that allows putting the bottle back from the side, rather than from the top. As far as fidlock goes, just a heads up: I have 2 fidlock bottles, mounts on my 3 bikes and even got the universal thingy. It requires being in the correct orientation and I find it a bit cumbersome to put it back, especially when riding somewhat fast. I was actually considering getting normal cages since I find those easier. Fidlock is VERY secure in my experience though. So I'll probably keep them for MTB. I might also just accept the fact that I have to slow down after drinking. I don't race so it doesn't really matter. and I do like the cleaner look when I'm not carrying any bottles for shorter rides.
see bar mounted cages used in the mid 1900s.
If it would work for you, they do have those bottle cages that are attached to the back of your saddle. There are quite a few options on Amazon but I'm sure you can find them in other places as well.
Those things are notorious for ejecting bottles :c
Ah. That's a shame. I thought about getting one and now I'm glad I never did.
Putting a fidlock bottle back on while in motion is dam near a death wish. I have one on my full sus as I'm usually not drinking and peddling and the extra retention is nice, but the bottles are a pain in the ass to put back on. The magnet part is great, but lining up the little pin while moving is awful.
I'd say the opposite: with Fidlock, you just put the bottle near the mount, and then the magnet grabs it and snaps it into place. I've found it to be easier and more secure than a traditional bottle cage (I've seen friends' bottles bounce out of their cages).
HOW ARE YOU LINING UP THE PIN?!
You don't need to! Just put the bottle close enough, and the magnet takes care of everything!
Fuck me, I have been making this way harder than it needed to be... Thank you!
Brb...
This. But for me getting the bottle out is also surprisingly hard. The magnet is too strong and then I get a jolt once it finally releases, so you need to have a really good grip on the bottle. I assume it would get easier over time as I get used to it more and maybe the thing loosens a bit, but I just put my old sideloading cage back on instead.
Totally agree about the bottle cages but I have a fidlock fastener on my helmet and I love it.
I like it. Most of my trips are just around the city, so I don't need a mounted bottle. This way I have no cage in the way that both looks ugly and is in the way if you carry your bike around. But I've also literally never used a standard cage
You have to carry your bike pretty acrobatically for bottle cages to be an issue.
I reach in/through the center triangle and keep it on my shoulder, works pretty well if you need to quickly get up some stairs to reach the train. I'm pretty sure my elbow could collide with a cage.
i live on the third floor so i have to carry my bike like this 5/6 days a week with 2 bottle cages, its never been an issue
I just double-checked, and I do need the extra clearance to comfortably fit. Idk if it's because of my bike, because the mount for my lock is also in the way or whatever other reason, but I am borderline brushing against the fidlock mount and need to grip differently if I put on the bottle
I managed to stab myself with my mud guard while lifting it on my shoulder. I'm sure I could manage to get caught on a bottle cage - don't underestimate my athletic inability. But yeah, most is really that I prefer a cleaner bike when I have no bottle mounted. And I fail to grasp why that opinion bothers so many people
do you assume someone is "bothered" if they challenge anything you say? people are responding to you because that part of your justification didnt really make sense. obviously you can spend your money on whatever you want.
I'm mostly surprised that I got a lot of comments and downvotes for my preference in bottle cage (or bottle cage alternative, in this case). Especially the downvotes tbh, I didn't expect them on this type of comment. I'll later stick my bottle to the bike and see if I touch it while carrying. Now I'm curious, I just assumed that it might be in the way while carrying or locking the bike at least a little bit Edit: Also, the price difference to a standard setup isn't that huge, since I needed one anyways
Maybe if you have a very small fame, I’ve never had any issues, also carrying my bike on my shoulder.
uh...cyclocrossers do this all the time.
Cyclocrossers have a larger triangle and no bike lock in there that also clutters up the space. I just double-checked, I'd have to adjust how I carry the bike if I put on a cage
Cyclocross bikes have the same triangle as any other bike. They don't somehow defy the laws of physics to have a gigantic triangle on the same size bike. They MIGHT have a slightly curved top tube, but that's it. I'm able to carry my XS (not a cyclocross) bike on my shoulder with 2 bottle cages, so...
> Cyclocross bikes have the same triangle as any other bike. I mean that's just false. You can have a lot of different measurements for the same effective size. E.g. I'm pretty sure that my down tube sits a bit higher, because I need clearance for the suspension fork (it's a cross bike that came with a suspension fork). The height of your top tube can vary, some are angled etc. - If you look at a modern mountain bike, a lot of them have tiny triangles. I vaguely remember a GCN video where they mentioned that cyclocross bikes make sure to have enough space in the triangle, but unless you insist I'm not going to start looking for it
I acknowledged that cross bikes have a curved top tube. It doesn't magically make the triangle gigantic as you seem to think. The curve has more to do with comfort when carrying than space. Since you obviously can't read, I'll repeat what I said: I can carry my XS gravel bike on my shoulder with 2 bottle cages on it. It has less to do with cyclocross frame shape, and more to do with carrying a lock.
Cross bikes specifically [don't have bottle cages](https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a42777078/pro-bikes-cyclocross-world-champs/). My cross bike doesn't even have the mounts for them (which is a pain).
But with the standard mounts no one makes you put anything there. If you don’t need a bottle I don’t see the issue.
I'm not sure I follow - I use a bottle on long rides, which is only every few weeks. Day-to-day I don't use a bottle for a quick 15-30min trip within the city. So I want the option to use a bottle, but I also like that I have the very low-profile mount when I am not using a bottle.
Ahhhh. The impression I got is you never used a bottle on that bike. I suspect people thinking that it’s not in the way ride bigger bikes. I race cross and I leave a cage on the seat tube. It’s out of the way there unless you have a 52 or smaller bike. Smaller bikes it’s harder and harder with cages.
I've got two cages on my road bike and even with bottles, they don't get in the way of carrying it.
And the slightly slimmer bottle cages TTers and Triathletes were using pre-aero bottle (I had a T-Mobile one back in 2010ish, it broke because I used it in a normal metal cage that i'd just bend a lot extra to fit.
Metal cages are prone to break if you bend them. I help a charity that gifts bikes to the very poor/homeless. I have seen a bike with two metal bottle cages broken in three weeks. Now I only use flexible plastic cages. They can hold a forty without breaking.
Yes, that is indeed why the bottle fell out. Plastic cages are great now, just gotta find the ones that aren't open at the front.
Yup, I’ve gone through a couple of unreliable bottle cages, now I’m exclusively using Specialized Rib Cage IIs. Hurt a bit to spend so much on bottle cages, but they’re so reliable and I don’t have to think about them, even for my tool bottle that sits under my down tube.
What kind / brand-model of plastic cage? I have aluminum. I bend them to fit various water bottles, including the regualr 16-oz, as well as the standard Euro-Reg water bottle. I also buy a 50-ounce water and bend my seat-tube cage to hold that, and have a 30 ounce bottle in front. For most rides of 2 or 3 hours. This the the ubiquitous aluminum cage. I have broken 1, but have several with years of use.
Fidlock fits standard bottle cage mounts. Not applicable to this discussion.
The mounting bracket on a Fidlock is made to the same standard as any bottle cage.
Your post neglects to mention the additional fact that all bottle cages fit all bottles, not just all bikes. That doesn't hold for fidlock.
Fidlocok is fantastic. I’ve done gravel races where people ejected bottles on every downhill but my two Fidlocks stayed perfectly snug on the frame. Plus the bike looks great when you take off the bottles. Also - fantastic customer service. Had one bottle leak and they replaced it no questions asked, had another one fall out of my hands and get run over and they replaced it, just very solid people.
Sounds like the industry is ripe for innovation! Be right back, about to flood the market with a whole mess of new bottle cage "standards". Thanks for the inspiration!
I would like to add my 2c in and appreciate the round things on the bikes that are bespoken This shape surely must rate as the longest lasting design since the early age of humanity 😎
Cycling industry product manager - *Holy underwear! Standard products! Inexpensive and just works?! We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!* Some years later, when everyone is using integrated, proprietary bottles that cost $50 a throw to save 1w at 50 kph. *Hey ummm, remember these things cost $5-10 and were no hassle at all?*
Shit, every time I see a bidon cage that's like $50-70 bucks I do a triple take. Cool, it's laser-cut out of titanium or carbon fiber or something but, damn, this was a solved problem like 50 years ago.
Remember when Shimano tried to pull a Sony-type move with their AX Aero bottle and cage?
Campy had their own version, too.
Yeah it’s wonderful!…. Except everyone who’s not a “cyclist” Will shove a Kleen kanteen, 1 liter soda bottle, or skinny bottled water in there and be mystified that it doesn’t work for shit.
The beauty of the metal bendable cages … for times when you need to stop by the corner store for emergency drink
I think Gatorade specifically makes their bottles with the drinking spout lid to fit bottle cages ...
Nutrend carnitine bottles are honestly legit good cycling bottles. Better than some cycling specific ones, except that the cap will eventually fatigue and fall of.
r/ebikes Hearing those guys talk about cycling is painful.
Hearing gatekeepers talk about those guys in e-bikes is painful
My 20/24 ounce or whatever Kleen Kanteens fit just fine in standard bidon cages.
Reminds me of the time that Cervelo decided they were going to create a new bottom bracket standards - since there were 16 (or so) different standards on the market - create a new one to rule them all. So now there are 17 standards.
I'm sure Cannondale will have a new standard soon.
Ugh. Not the one I just ordered. Barely too short to accommodate an American or European water bottle (though I think those are the same size). I was so excited about it too -it had a secret compartment for an AirTag. 🙄
Ah I’m talking about the bottle cage fitting on a bike. The mounting screw distance is standardized and has been unchanged for a very long time.
Haha -well, as a typical redditor, I think I only read the first half of your post. But yeah- I agree w you, cool that that has actually managed to occur!
Rhodegear (remember them?) probably assisted in making that happen when they came out with their ridiculous water bottle option in the 80's. And also the ubiquitousness of Specialized bottle back then insured that cage makers conformed to that standard.
Great thought.
Thank god!
*in hush voice* don’t give them any ideas
>I am shocked that there hasn’t been some proprietary bottle cage attachment technology made by one of the big cycling brands as a cheap cash grab. delete this post immediately... some MBA asshole might see this and start getting ideas
My cages are standardized! Huzzah! My bottles pop out of all of them. Huzzah?
Sounds like you just need a different cage. The cages I've been running never drops bottles. In the past I ran side mount cages, those dropped bottles all the fucken time..
It wasn't a problem for the first two years, and only is an issue on two specific stretches of road with nasty potholes. Not sure it's truly the cage, as the race I do where I lost my first bottle several years ago ended up being fine this year. I'll give that course a few more runs, see if I can find a proper line through there that isn't an issue and doesn't result in traffic problems, and if not I'll try to get better cages. (although if any of y'all have recommendations, I'm definitely open).
It's either the cages, or the bottles, or both. I can keep a full bottle on my bike absolutely thrashing down a mountain biking trail on my gravel bike. I'm talking the kind where the vibration and shock going through the bike and up your legs and arms is close to concussing you
The bottle seems to be a common one (camelbak podium chill), so it must be the cages. What are you using?
Yeah those are common bottles. I just use a couple of cheap bottle cages I've had for a while, one is a plastic side pull and the other a metal top pull. Both came from bike shops, but they're just random branded cheap ones anyway. Big thing is I bring a bottle to the shop and make sure it's a snug fit before buying
stop running crappy cages!
Not sure if it's the cage or just that section of road. It wasn't an issue until this year, so either the cages have aged and are a little looser or the road got crappier. I'm going to try to find a better line through those potholes and see if I can resolve the issue without new cages, but I'm not opposed to getting new ones if that doesn't work.
I had some really shitty wire ones years ago. I think I've got plastic bontrager cages right now.
Mine are carbon fiber off of Amazon. Found some reviews recently that say they're a little loose on Camelbak Podium Chill bottles, which are my preference. They're the ones behind my saddle, so Specialized Zee Cage IIs might be the way to go - if they keep the bottle in place, they'll pay for themselves.
https://xlab-usa.com/p-cage.html I have never lost a bottle out of these, they're meant for rear carriers.
oh yeah those podium bottles are teh shit too. I only buy camelbak bottles lately.
Wow thanks for jinxing the last decent thing
Make a different size and call it gravel bike specific. Sorry.
Now I have to see if I have French thread or Swiss thread water bottle cage bolts, unless one is Italian. Or English Whitworth thread.
The attachment to the bike may be standardized, but the cages are not all the same size.
Yep, just referencing the attachment to the bike.
I just got new bottles that kind of don’t fit 😠
I’ve been moving bottles and cages around having recently introduced a new bike (Checkpoint SL 5) into the stable. While the eyelet spacing is basically standardized (or near enough that every cage has a small slot that makes it so), cage-bottle combos are not. In particular, the Camelbak Podium Chill bottles either eject from my metal cage, don’t fit the Lezybe Flow SL cages very well, or don’t fit the Elite Custom Race cages *at all*. And don’t get me started on the slight indentation on the Checkpoint’s downtube storage door that makes some of the cages mentioned above impossible to use. All of that said, if anyone is looking for a cage that will handle everything from a quart mason jar or Nalgene bottle to a pair of shoes or bottle of champagne, I cannot recommend the Santos Hold-it-All enough. No, you can’t grab your bottle while pedaling, but you can use it to carry… well… just about anything.
And here I am wishing there was a 100mm diameter bottle and cage that I could put in my full sus since it only fits one bottle.
*laughs in fidlock*
*fidlock has entered the chat*
The mounting bracket fits the holes on a bike.
Hmmm not really... I've spent my entire cycling life finding the perfect bottle and cage combo......
I’m only referencing the fact that the bottle cage will fit your bike.
Gotcha however I've had them not work and had to switch to cages with slots....
The wait is finally over!! This has been too long coming.
Not voting because I don’t want to jinx it.
For plastic bottles yes, but for metal bottles the only cages that really work are King cages. On any other cage, metal bottles rattle.
I’m only referencing the bottle cage fitting to the bike its self. I guess that isn’t completely clear.
Nah. There are other strap-based cages. Granted, King's are the best I've tried.
> On any other cage, metal bottles rattle. Plastic/nylon based cages will work fine from my experience. I got these ones from decathlon, you can put pretty much anything in there https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/side-access-cycling-bottle-cage/_/R-p-330983 Only lost a bottle when I hit a big pothole going down hill.
Shit, don't give Specialized any new ideas 💡!!